As the turbulent flames descended, even a fire-type like Daricka could almost feel the heat rolling off of the Blast Burn, and she could only imagine what it would feel like if she was hit. Instinct told her to flee for her life, but loyalty told her to stay and help her comrades. In the split second she had to decide, loyalty won the small conflict and the Infernape made a mad dash toward Hoodhide. It was time to show how Wildfire had gained her title.

As her feet pounded against the ground, the dark flames that flickered atop her head started to spread and wreathed about her body. Her already rapid pace rapidly increased as power surged through her as her Life Fire overflowed her reserves and her glowing oceanic blue eyes were the only visible part of her as the black flames completely encased her body. In the time it took to blink, she seemed to appear by Hoodhide's side, then she was lifting him up and over the impending danger of the Blast Burn as she jumped clear of the flames. She hesitated for a fraction of a moment to regain her footing, then she was off again with the Scrafty gripped in the iron grasp of her right arm. Her path leading her straight to Guardia as she bounded over the debris of buildings that were in her path. The moment the Zangoose was in the grip of her free hand and slung over a shoulder, Daricka did a 180 and ran back the way she had come until they were out of reach of the Blast Burn.

"Sorry for the rough ride," Daricka said as she set Hoodhide and Guardia down. "I was in a bit of a hurry." She didn't wait to see if they would say anything back before whirling around and running back toward The Inferno; she didn't want use these flames any longer than she had to, and the clock was ticking. Even as she was now, there wasn't any guarantee that she would be able to overpower The Inferno - or what The Inferno had now become. Still, not everything was about power.

Daricka's own envelope of black flames was barely visible against the backdrop of The Inferno's corrupted flames, and only the occasional faint flicker of midnight blue would give her away as she took a moment to slow her pace enough for her to briefly close her eyes and concentrate on a Calm Mind to regain the defenses she would need to fight against the behemoth before her. When she reopened her eyes, their shining bright blue would give no doubt to any close observer that she was not a part of the burning backdrop.

A swirling ball of energy rapidly started forming in her right hand, the flames wreathing her body flowing into and around the Focus Blast and adding their strength to it. There was no telling how powerful this dark creature was, but Daricka was confident that this attack would not be so easily blown away by another Flamethrower. And besides that, The Inferno should still be recovering from the last Blast Burn; if she was right, he wouldn't be at full power quite yet. Still, she had no way of judging his current recovery rate. For all she knew, he was already preparing another attack.

Doubt fled from her mind as the opportunity for retreat faded; the flame encased Focus Blast had reached a size a fair size larger than it would normally be, and she was within range to fire it. Barely dropping her pace, Daricka spun on her toes, using the moment from the spin to fling the Focus Blast at a blistering speed toward The Inferno. Digging her left foot into the ground, she pushed off to run around him to the right, Smaller, palm-sized versions of the Focus Blast already forming in both of her hands. She gripped both orbs of swirling energy in either of her hands then, like lightning, dashed in to strike at The Inferno with Close Combat, the miniature Focus Blasts adding extra power to her already devastating punches. As she weaved about him, constantly switching from one side to another in the event that he should throw an attack at her she would have a larger chance of escaping, she kept her tail behind her and out of his view.

The reason for this was revealed soon enough as her elongated tail suddenly whipped out from behind her back, wrapped around a pulsing orb of blue energy and dark flames. Like lightning, it flicked out to hold the Focus Blast at an angle opposite to that which Daricka was currently attacking from, and the fifth limb unraveled to fling the Focus Blast at the Inferno at a range that would be near impossible to counter.